Bouffalo Lab BL616/BL618 RISC-V MCU supports WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and Zigbee

Sipeed BL616 module

Bouffalo Lab BL616/BL618 is a 32-bit RISC-V wireless microcontroller with support for 2.4 GHz WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 dual-mode, and an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter designed for IoT applications. We first spotted the BL616 RISC-V IoT MCU during the BL602/BL606 announcement in November 2020, but we had virtually no additional information about it so far. It appears both BL616 and BL618 will be launched next month with the main difference between the two being that BL616 has 19 GPIOs and BL618 comes with 35 GPIOs. Bouffalo Lab BL616 and BL618 specifications: MCU core – 32-bit RISC-V CPU (RV32IMAFCP) @ up to 320 MHz with FPU and DSP, 32KB instruction cache & 16KB data cache VPU – MJPEG video encoder Memory – 480KB SRAM, 4KB HBN RAM, embedded 4 or 8MB pSRAM (optional) Storage – 128KB ROM, 4Kb eFuse, embedded 2, 4, or 8MB flash (optional), XIP QSPI […]

Jlink WiFi 6 router sells for just $35 (Promo)

cheap low cost WiFi 6 router

If you are interested in upgrading your wireless network to WiFi 6 but don’t want to spend too much on it, the Jlink WiFi 6 (AX1800) may be an option as it is now sold on Amazon for about $35 with a 30% coupon (CGWTG9GR if ticking does not work). Jlink AX1800 dual-band router highlights: Wireless 2.4GHz and 5GHz MU-MIMO WiFi 6 with up to 1.8 Gbps wireless speeds Support up to 128 concurrent devices Coverage of up to 1700 sq feet or 160 square meters TWT technology for low-power IoT devices Security – WPA3 4x external antennas Wired networking – 4x RJ45 ports with one Gigabit Ethernet WAN port, 3x Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports USB – None that I can see “Storage Memory of up to 256MB” I could not find the specifications for the router, so all we really have are user reviews on Amazon. Most users are […]

Radxa E25 modular 2.5GbE router supports WiFi 6 and 4G/5G cellular connectivity

Radxa E25 router

Radxa E25 is a modular router with two 2.5GbE ports based on the Radxa CM3 Industrial (CM3I) system-on-module equipped with a Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor, and optional support for WiFi 6 and 4G or 5G cellular connectivity. I got an early sample of the Radxa E25 carrier board in January, but the company has now refined the design with version 1.4 of the board and will launch the Radxa E25 as a complete router with an enclosure similar to NanoPi R5S and LinkStar H68K we’ve covered previously. Radxa E25 specifications: SoM – Radxa CM3I with Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G52, up to 8GB RAM, up to 128GB eMMC flash (250MB/s max), optional WiFi and Bluetooth Storage – MicroSD card socket, M.2 SATA 2242 SSD (multiplexed with 4G) Networking 2x 2.5GbE ports via Realtek RTL8125B 2.5 Gbps Ethernet transceiver (Tested by Radxa at 2.2 […]

Orange Pi 5 Rockchip RK3588S SBC launched for $60 and up

Orange Pi 5

Orange Pi 5 (LTS) is a single board computer powered by Rockchip RK3588S cost-down octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor that offers one of the best cost/performance ratios on the market with pre-order pricing starting at just $60. The SBC was initially unveiled with up to  32GB RAM and 32GB eMMC flash, but at launch, Shenzhen Xunlong Software offers models with 4GB and 8GB RAM, and no flash storage. The board supports dual 8K display setups thanks to HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 Type-C video outputs and also features up to two MIPI DSI display interfaces, three camera interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet, and WiFi 6 connectivity, and a few USB ports plus a GPIO header. Orange Pi 5 LTS specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz, Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU, 6 TOPS AI accelerator System Memory – […]

ESP-Hosted simplifies adding WiFi connectivity to legacy Linux or MCU-based products

ESP-Hosted

Most of the ESP8266 and ESP32 projects and products we cover here use the Espressif microcontroller as the main chip, but ESP8266 started as a WiFi module meant to be controlled with AT commands from a host device. But there are still “legacy” products that may benefit from connecting to the cloud, and Espressif introduced the ESP-Hosted for that purpose in 2020, and recently released a next-generation ESP-Hosted solution (ESP-Hosted-NG) specifically for Linux hosts. The solution is available in two variants: ESP-Hosted-FG (First generation) exposing an Ethernet interface to the host and suitable for microcontrollers and Linux hosts, and the ESP-Hosted-NG presenting an 802.11 network interface and designed for Linux hosts only. Both solutions include ESP32 firmware and a host driver running on the legacy system. Espressif Systems recommends using ESP-Hosted-FG on an MCU host, and ESP-Hosted-NG on a Linux host in order to benefit from Linux user space applications/services […]

8K TV box powered by Amlogic S928X Cortex-A76/A55 processor showcased at IBC 2022

Amlogic S928X 8K TV Box

Amlogic S928X multi-core Cortex-A76/A55 8K media processor, which may have been initially known as S908X, is being showcased at ICB2022 in Amsterdam in the “SEI 8K Box” developed by SEI Robotics. Amlogic S908X/S928X was first discovered in a roadmap in 2019 and was expected to launch by the end of 2020 at the time. But after a long wait of nearly three years, the Amlogic S928X processor is finally showing in SEI 8K box with an HDMI 2.1a 8K video interface, supports for HDR and advanced audio codecs like Dolby Atmos and DTS, and support for Smart Home functions through an IoT module with WiFi 6E, Zigbee and more. SEI 8K box preliminary specifications: SoC – Amlogic S928X multi-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor, next-gen GPU (likely Mali-G610?); 12nm process System Memory – 64-bit DDR Storage – eMMC flash Video Output HDMI 2.1a up to 8Kp60 (7680 x 4320 resolution) with HDR10+/HLS, Dolby […]

MaxLinear AnyWAN URX850, URX851, and MxL25641 Intel Atom SoCs target broadband routers and gateways

MaxLinear AnyWAN Atom SoC broadband routers

MaxLinear has just announced the availability of the first three AnyWAN broadband SoCs featuring Intel Atom cores with the MxL25641, URX850, and URX851 processors designed for 5Gbps and 10 Gbps broadband routers and gateways, usually referred to as CPEs (customer premise equipment). When I first read the news of MaxLinear releasing Intel Atom SoCs, I could not quite compute how it was possible, as I can’t remember any third-party releasing Intel processors and I thought it might be a system-in-package instead. But MaxLinear keeps calling those Intel Atom SoCs, and the reason is that the company acquired Intel’s Home Gateway Platform Division in 2020. MaxLinear AnyWAN x86 SoCs key features and specifications: AnyWAN URX850/URX851 (for 10Gbps systems) CPU – 4x Intel Atom CPU cores @ 2 GHz Memory – Up to 16GB LPDDR4 or DDR4 Storage – eMMC 5.1 flash Networking 4x 2.5GE PHYs XFI WAN Packet processor for full […]

Radair mini gateway – A 3-in-1 LoRaWAN gateway, Helium miner, and environmental monitoring station

Radair mini gateway

Radair mini gateway is a multiple-purpose gateway with LoRaWAN, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth and Ethernet connectivity, a Quectel GNSS module, the ability to connect to the Helium network to mine HNT cryptocurrency, as well as a 4-in-1 Bosch environmental sensor to monitor temperature, humidity, pressure, and air quality. Radair mini gateway specifications: SoC – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 “crypto” CPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card socket Connectivity WM1302 LoRa concentrator for LoRaWAN support Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port 802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 via Mediatek MT7921AU module Dual Antenna – Wi-Fi 6E, LoRa GPS – Quectel GNSS module 4-in-1 Bosch environmental sensor Temperature & Humidity Pressure (Altitude accuracy +/- 1M) Air Quality (Carbon Monoxide, Bacteria, Smoke, Sulfur, Hydrogen) USB – 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type C port (in front) for external accessories HW security – Microchip Technologies ECC608 secure element Misc – Reset/Bluetooth […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC